H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (7 January 2019) – Artificial Intelligence Is About to Make a Splash at CES 2019

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (7 January 2019) – Artificial Intelligence Is About to Make a Splash at CES 2019

Companies

• Lenovo’s chairman says worst is over for PC giant and ‘intelligent transformation’ set to reap rewards (SCMP)
• Xiaomi Buys 0.5% Stake in TCL as Companies Sign Cooperation Pact (Bloomberg)
• Slump in iPhone Demand Hits Lens Maker Largan’s December Sales (Bloomberg)
• Apple’s Taiwan suppliers could bear the brunt of slump in shares; Island home to about 15 per cent of 195 globally listed companies that supply iPhone maker (SCMP)
• Sinbon Electronics’ consolidated sales up 51.5% annually; Thanks to its long-term relationship with clients, Sinbon Electronics has greater access to clients than the company’s peers when client products are at the research-and-development stage, therefore it can ship products as a preferred supplier once they are released, who tracks the electronic components industry at Yuanta Securities, said in a client note on Dec. 27. In addition, its products are mostly used in non-consumer sectors such as industrial, green energy, automotive and medical, generally with stable orders (Taipei Times)

BATTSS – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, TSMC, Samsung, Softbank

• Will Samsung’s foldable smartphone be game-changer in 2019? (Investor); Samsung Electronics braces for profit drop as China slowdown chips away at demand (Reuters); $3 Billion Hedge Fund Bets Samsung’s Woes Are Bad News for South Korea’s Stock Market (Bloomberg)

FAANNMG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, Google

• Apple to Start Offering iTunes Movies and Shows on Samsung TVs (Bloomberg)
• More than 100 million Alexa devices have been sold (Techcrunch)
• Amazon and Walmart Team Up to Fight New Indian E-Commerce Rules (Bloomberg)
• Netflix is all the rage, but so are its debt levels (AFR)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Huawei unveils cutting edge chips and servers aimed at handling big data and AI tasks (SCMP)
• Money’s Getting Tighter: China’s Ignored IPhone Alert; It’s not just about a slowing economy and the rise of cheaper devices from the likes of Huawei and Xiaomi. (Bloomberg)
• Kamereo raises $500K to help restaurants in Vietnam manage suppliers, food orders (Bridge)
• India’s Startups Are Venturing Abroad To Gain Footholds In Countries Around The World (Forbes)
• India’s housewife-entrepreneurs turn a profit from social media: Reselling platforms such as Meesho spread e-commerce and draw investors (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Marc Andreessen: audio will be “titanically important” and VR will be “1,000” times bigger than AR (Techcrunch)
• Artificial Intelligence Is About to Make a Splash at CES 2019 (Barron’s)
• German Giants Cruise Into Robotaxi Era (Bloomberg); Mercedes aims to be among top two players to scale autonomous tech: paper (Reuters); Car Companies Will Show Off the Latest in Self-Driving Tech at CES (Barron’s)
• Blood Pressure, Baby’s Pulse, Sperm Potency: Home Health Devices Are Tracking More Than Ever; Wearables and other inexpensive products and services can now extract detailed information about our bodies-so how will their makers handle all (WSJ)
• Virtual Assistants Have Hit a Wall-and It’ll Be Years Before They Reach Full Potential; Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant desperately want to help you do your routine-but it takes too much programming and there are still too many holes (WSJ)
• Health Startups Take Down Data Silos That Block AI Adoption; Challenge is to analyze data stored in multiple locations by multiple providers (WSJ)
• Some venture capitalists are rooting for a market dip to calm Silicon Valley’s overheated start-up scene. (NYT)

 

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